


You Can Touch

by Tahlruil



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers-centric, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 06:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11594613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tahlruil/pseuds/Tahlruil
Summary: Fighting Loki is never fun, but their latest confrontation has Steve very worried about Tony's well-being.For the 'I hate magic' prompt.





	You Can Touch

**Author's Note:**

> So much posting. XD Sooo many words. XD I hope the fics aren't too terrible because of my haste. XD
> 
> This one was fun to write! I enjoyed it a bunch, though I really need to stop hurting my poor Tony. T_T
> 
> Maybe leave a comment if you like it? <3

Steve didn’t go into Tony’s workshop too often. He’d hate to intrude, and anyway it was sort of painful. Watching Tony work, watching him literally build the future with his bare hands, hurt. Tony was gorgeous all the time, but Steve had found ways around that. He’d found ways to live with the constant _want_ that thrummed in his veins. In Tony’s workshop though, every single strategy he’d come up with failed him. All he could think about was taking Tony in his arms and declaring his love before kissing the genius silly. He couldn’t though - they were friends. Just friends.

So Steve didn’t visit the workshop much.

On those occasions that he did though, Tony always let him in. Tony would let him in and set everything else aside, like Steve was more important than anything he could be doing. He just… stopped, until he knew what Steve wanted; those moments almost made the pain worth it.

To be staring at the door from the wrong side hurt more than he’d ever thought it would. “Tony… TOny please open the door,” he asked again with little hope the man would respond. Steve had rushed to the workshop’s level as soon as he’d gotten back to the tower. He’d slowed only long enough to set his shield down and peel off the sweaty, bloody top of his uniform. Despite his hurry, he’d been too late and Tony had already locked himself away.

There was no answer, and Steve let out a long sigh before setting his hands flat on the door. “Tony, I know you’re listening. Please let me in. I want… I’m worried about you. After. It was a rough fight. Don’t make me break in after that.” Because he could; the door was reinforced but Steve knew he could break through the walls around it. That might do more harm than good, with Tony’s state of mind being what it was, but Steve would do it if he had to.

God, he didn’t want to have to.

Steve leaned forward to rest his forehead against the door, closing his eyes and taking another deep breath. “Tony… please.” He’d given up on asking JARVIS; the AI refused to go against Tony’s orders when the man wasn’t in imminent danger. Tony wouldn’t open the door and neither would JARVIS. God, Steve was going to have to break in and then Tony would never feel safe in there again and this whole situation as so fu-

He almost fell into the workshop when the door opened, but regained his feet as quickly as he could. By the time he straightened, there was a gauntlet a few inches away from his face, arc reactor glowing ominously. Looking beyond that, he saw Tony and couldn’t help but make a small sound of concern. The man was pale, face streaked with sweat and dried blood. His eyes were wild distrust, but at least he hadn’t taken a shot yet. Given the way their last fight had gone down, he thought that was awfully lucky.

“See, you look like Steve Rogers,” Tony started, voice shaking with stress and fear. When he looked back to the Iron Man gauntlet, he saw that it was shaking too. “But how do I know it’s really him? Huh? We didn’t catch that son of a bitch Loki, and maybe his fucking illusions can get past my security-”

“Tony, it’s _me_ ,” he tried, taking a step forward only to hear the whine of the gauntlet powering up.

“It looked like you before, too. It looked and sounded _exactly_ like Steve Rogers. I hand _lunch_ with it. Then he… it… you started saying the most awful things.” Steve hated himself a little for the look on Tony’s face. Not as much as he hated Loki for using his likeness to put it there though. “And then… then you were saying things Howard used to. I never-” Tony’s voice broke, and it took everything he had not to lunge forward and wrap Tony up in a hug.

“I know I’m not as good as you, Steve. I know I won’t ever… but to hear _you_ saying… fuck. Then you turned _into_ Howard, and I…”

Thor could spout nonsense about the ‘good’ in Loki all he wanted, but Steve wasn’t buying it. Not any more. Not after he’d used illusions to hurt Tony like this, twisting his emotions and shooting his self-confidence all to hell before attacking the man. Even after Tony’d gotten in the suit and the rest of the Avengers had shown up to help, Iron Man had been compromised. His fighting had been sloppy and more reckless than usual, with Loki taunting him the whole time.

Steve had maybe hit the crazy Norse god a lot harder than he usually did.

“Hey, Tony… easy. It’s me. It’s me. It’s Steve, and I would never say those kinds of things to you. I know you, Tony. I know how good you are, and I’d never-”

“You’re saying that now, but as soon as I trust you, soon as I let you in, you’ll-”

“No. You’re my best friend, Tony. Loki used me to hurt you, and I am so sorry for that. But it’s me this time. You couldn’t touch his illusions, right? None of us could - they poofed, right? They’re all… all incorporeal or whatever. So put the gauntlet down and touch me Tony.”

There was a long, long pause as Tony seemed to consider his options. Finally, however, he lowered the gauntlet and took a step closer. “If you aren’t Steve,” he whispered, voice thick with an emotion that broke Steve’s heart. “I’m going to fucking kill Loki.”

“I’ll help.” Tony reached out with his bare hand, fingers shaking. Just before he touched Steve’s face he yanked them back and ran his hand down his own face instead as he let out a curse. When he tried again, Steve met him halfway and took gentle hold of the man’s wrist. Tony let out a sound that was dangerously close to a sob. Keeping his eyes locked on Tony’s, he brought those elegant, calloused fingers to his cheek.

After that, Tony didn’t need any further encouragement. Sensitive fingertips explored his face, movement rough and desperate a first and slowly turning into a caress. Maybe it was wrong of him to enjoy the man’s touch, but he couldn’t help it. Only a few moments in, he found himself leaning into Tony’s hand, eyes shut, hardly daring to breathe. He heard what had to be the Iron Man gauntlet hitting the floor and then Tony’s other hand was pressed over his heart.

“I can touch you.” Tony breathed, relief clear in his voice. “It’s really you.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed, voice rough to his own ears. “It’s me. And you can always touch me.” As soon as it was out of his mouth, his eyes flew open and he felt himself blush bright red. “I mean. If you’re ever, you know Not sure if it’s me. Uhm. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.” Tony answered succinctly, a small quirk that was probably meant to be a smile on his lips. “Loki is a little fucker and the next time Thor says to show him mercy I’m punching him right in the face.” He was still touching Steve, one hand cupping his cheek and the other still pressed against his heart.

“You’ll only break your hand. Why don’t I do the punching?”

“Yeah, okay.” Without any warning or hesitation, Tony slid his hand to the back of Steve’s neck and pulled him him down into a kiss. Even surprised and worried, Steve returned it immediately and wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist to pull him close.

The kiss stayed light and sweet, but it changed his entire world. Suddenly Tony wasn’t just a friend that he had to deal with wanting; suddenly Tony was someone within his reach. He might get to have this.

When their lips parted, Tony tucked his head under Steve’s chin. Despite the questions and giddy delight bubbling under his skin, Steve stayed quiet as they held each other, swaying gently. When the silence ended, it was broken by Tony.

“For the record, we are not starting this because of Loki or his magic look-a-likes.”

“We’re starting this?” Steve asked, a grin breaking out on his face. “I like the sound of that.”

“Yeah. But not because of magic.”

“Definitely not.”

“I fucking hate magic.”

“I know. You say that every time we fight Loki. And to be honest, I’m starting to hate it too.”

“I’ve been trying to get up the courage to start something for a while.”

“Really? Because I… I never thought…”

“I was going to talk to you soon. We would have started this anyway. Soon.”

“Tony, that’s… wow. I’ve wanted… for so long I wanted…”

“Me too. But I’m not telling people we’re together because of _magic_. I hate magic. We did not get together because of fucking magic.”

“Absolutely on board with that. Why don’t we tell people we started when I asked you on a date?”

“Is that…?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes! I mean… yeah. Let’s… let’s do that. After we get cleaned up. Where are we going?”

“... there’s a magic show at-” He started to laugh when Tony socked him in the shoulder, joy bursting bright in his chest. He hugged the man a little tighter, then planted a loud, smacking kiss on Tony’s pouting lips.

“You are a fucking troll, Steven Rogers. A fucking troll.”


End file.
